August 5 - Deadhorse Ranch

I write this account on October 24^th as I return from a waterfowl hunting trip to Saskatchewan.  Yes, I’m aware that I’m two months behind on posting my daily journal.  Birding, hunting, and travel are somewhat higher priorities to me than writing.  Hopefully, I’ll catch up a bit before the year ends . . .

I spent a fair amount of time the morning of the 5th at the Travelodge, working on my blog, then did a quick stop at the Kingman Safeway, before leaving toward the east.  My destination today is Dead Horse Ranch State Park.  Rather than taking the direct route since I’m on ‘vacation’ I dropped south off of the Interstate onto Highway 93, then back northeast on Hwy 97, and east on Highway 96 to near Hillside, where I turned onto Highway 15 (the Bagdad Road) to Kirkland.  There, I turned back north and east through Prescott, and picked my way through the two-lane highways to Dead Horse Ranch State Park.
I checked in at the office, and found that they had a cabin available for $60, and that sounded a lot better than setting up a tent this late in the afternoon.  This was a good decision, as the Monsoon delivered several strong winds and heavy rains between the time I checked-in and the following dawn . . .
 
The story of the park's name begins with the Ireys family, who came to Arizona from Minnesota looking for a ranch to buy in the late 1940s.  At one of the ranches they discovered a large dead horse lying by the road.  After two days of viewing ranches, Dad Ireys asked the kids which ranch they liked the best.  The kids said, “the one with the dead horse, dad!”  The Ireys family chose the name Dead Horse Ranch and later, in 1973, when Arizona State Parks acquired the park, the Ireys made retaining the name a condition of sale.

This wasp was 'nectaring' on white sweet clover blossoms

I went for a walk along the Verde River trails and the lagoons.

The trails here are exceptionally well-marked

The Park has three fishing lagoons that are stocked periodically with catfish, large-mouth bass, bluegill, crappie, and trout.  These waters, of course, draw other wildlife.  I saw a white-tail doe with a couple of fawns about the size of rabbits.  The Coues' white-tailed deer is the local subspecies of O. virginianus here and is fairly small, relative to the eastern subspecies.  And, any water in the desert is a magnet for birds.

Phainopeplas and Lark Sparrows

The Phainopeplas were common enough in the riparian area, where the elderberries were ripening.

Blue Elderberry Sambucus nigra ssp. cerulea

Water flows into the park from the Verde River via the Hickey Ditch, which has the oldest water rights in Northern Arizona.

Unlike other parts of the U.S., where a “ditch” might simply be a trench by the side of a road, ditches in Arizona are legally defined and protected by Arizona state law (Title 45-206)

A legal ditch

There were a lot of flowers blooming.  Sacred datura (Datura wrightii) is a large, sprawling, native perennial that grows throughout the Verde Valley (and across Arizona between 1,000 and 7,000 feet elevation). It is a member of the family Solanaceae making it a relative of the tomato, potato, and eggplant.  The plant only blooms at night, so a walk during the daytime gives one a view of flowers that are not at their most resplendent.

I saw a Thistledown “velvet ant”.  Dasymutilla gloriosa is not an ant, but rather a solitary wasp.  The female is the ‘fuzzy’ one, and is reported to not be aggressive (just don’t pick it up!).  As babies, this Thistledown - and the numerous other species of velvet ants - find themselves well-fed without having to work at it.  The female lays her eggs near pupae of ground-dwelling bees or even other wasps; junior hatches out and grow fast, and the immature bees become lunch within a matter of days.

Female thistledown velvet ant

The area had a lot of Darkling Beetles in the family Tenebrionidae.  They are sometimes called “Stinkbugs” referring to the malodorous secretion emitted from the insect’s rear end, while doing their "headstand" when threatened.  If bothered too much, they will squirt a brew of quinones and other noxious chemicals from the posterior of their abdomen.  Pity the poor grasshopper mouse that gets a blast of that in the face!

One of the species of Tenebrionidae

I ate a light supper of leftovers in the cabin, and was about to go to bed when I heard an owl calling from just back of the cabins.  I took my flashlight out and spotted a Barn Owl in the mesquite, but there was no way I could get a photo.  I did record the calls, and you can listen to them on the eBird checklist.  Since I was out, and it was a warm calm night with a full moon, I decided to take a walk back to the lagoons and discover what else might be vocalizing.  I heard a distant Screech Owl, and saw another white-tail doe crossing the road in front of me this evening while I was “owling”.  It was an evening well-spent!

Deadhorse State Park eBird Checklist is Here 
Deadhorse State Park nocturnal eBird Checklist is Here

A formidable-looking solitary wasp